» Feet In Sound (FIS), Tips for Elimination

[A_for_Alex]

In both band and drum corps, I used to stuggle very much with feet in my sound. Tracking was hell, and I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.

So, please post any tips or exercises you've done to help this marching problem.

One I know of is to 'step out' while doing warm-ups or playing exercises. What you do is you take a step out and back at the start of each repitition in the exercise. In between step outs, mark time. This really helps with enforcing a solid tone at the start of a note and continuing it, which translates to moving on the field. You can also compare where your sound jumps with when your feet hit to tell what you need to work on.

My past season of drum corps, we did this all the time during the spring camps, and there was very little FIS once we got to everydays.

[Nex]

You've pretty much hit that nail on the head for what I do . . . though I still needed more work at Letter H last summer

[A_for_Alex]

Ah, Letter H was fun. Remember when we were in Texas, and there was a downward slope to the field so it made that move a lot easier?

[NamisloC]

Something my corps always did was marching at a decent 8 to 5 (~80-120bpm), March 8, Halt 4. All the while doing nine count tones. That helped a lot because once the nine count tone could be played without the slightest hint of feet then you could begin to apply it to show music and thus the show with real movements. We also did the step outs while in concert arc, that helps more than you would believe.

[CoatHope]

Does anyone know how to solve this problem? Basically, anyplace I've marched used a straight leg approach. Now I''m all for it. However, no matter how much I've tried to seperate my upper body from my lower body, I still get feet in the sound. I've even tried to seperate to the point where it affects my breathing (and I've stopped that). I keep getting it. Then I realized a while ago, I went to a doctor who told me that one of my legs was only a centimeter longer than my other. Considering that I have grown a considerable amount since then, could that be attributing to my problem? Does anyone know how to solve this?

[CoatHope]

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